Diurnal and nocturnal pollination in a nursery-pollinated species

Nursery pollination is an unusual plant–insect interaction in which an insect is both pollinator and seed-predator. Depending on the abundance of the nursery pollinator and of other pollinators this interaction can range from mutualism to parasitism and it is thus likely to vary geographically. In a recent study published in AoB PLANTS, Scopece et al. investigated this mechanism in the widespread species Silene latifolia in a Mediterranean environment that is likely to offer a rich pollinator community to the plant, thus decreasing the dependence on the nursery pollinator. Surprisingly, they found that although generalist pollinators contribute significantly to plant fitness, the nursery pollinator is still the most efficient.

AoB PLANTS is an open-access, online journal that publishes peer-reviewed articles on all aspects of environmental and evolutionary biology. Published by Oxford University Press, AoB PLANTS provides a fast-track pathway for publishing high-quality research, where papers are available online to anyone, anywhere free of charge. Reasons to publish in AoB PLANTS include double-blind peer review of manuscripts, rapid processing time and low open-access charges.

Discover the most popular botany headlines and scientific papers every Monday morning, as chosen by @BotanyOne's Twitter followers.

After signing up, we'll send an email to your inbox to check it is you who wants to sign up to the list. You'll need to click on a link in this email to confirm your subscription. It's our way of making sure we're not accidentally sending you spam.